Tagalog + Swedish

[crush]

Basque
I've started reading 33 ezkil, though i'm still not really sure what "ezkil" means. I think it's the Batua word ezkila, meaning bell. In Basque, nouns following a number don't usually have the -a article, but some words have what is called "a propioa" where the -a is a part of the root word, not the article. So you have etxe (house) and etxea (the house) but taberna (bar/the bar). It could be a dialect thing.

The story itself isn't anything amazing yet but i'm not quite a third of the way through the book yet. It's interesting enough to keep me wanting to read though and is a nice change from the short stories i've been reading. There is quite a bit of new vocabulary but despite that the writing style is pretty straightforward and easy to follow. There is also a good deal of hika used in the book which is always interesting. Hika is a form similar to the tu of romance languages, but rather than simply change the ending of the verb the entire verb system changes, and not just when referring to that person, every single verb changes (1st/2nd/3rd person singular and plural, all forms change). In a lot of areas it's losing ground, possibly exacerbated by the fact that a lot of the younger speakers are the first in their (living) family to speak Basque and hika forms aren't generally taught in classes as the Basque verb system is already (in)famous for being huge. Hika essentially doubles the number of forms you need to learn.

Japanese
I finished chapter 11 this week and have gone through and mined all the free articles except the second 奥日光 one. I'm not sure if i'll sign up for it or not, my living situation here is very precarious (we have to be out of our house by the end of the month, but don't have another place lined up) which, coupled with visa and travel issues caused by the coronavirus, i'm not sure how much time i'll be spending on it.

I've gone through a couple more episodes of 風が強く吹いている (Run With the Wind), up through the 7th episode. I haven't watched much of Sound! Euphonium, it's not terribly interesting to me and most of the time i'd just rather read. This past week i think i only watched two episodes.

[crush]

Basque
I only read one or two nights this past week, i'm about halfway through the book now. It's a decent story and i've picked up quite a bit of new vocabulary and even a new verb structure i'd never seen before. I've been studying ten new words a day with Anki. Last night someone shared a video talking about some of the similarities between Basque and Mandarin. In particular, the way relative clauses are formed and the use of duplication were two things that made learning Basque easier for me after having learned Mandarin. The order of words in relative clauses was really tough for me to internalize at first when learning Mandarin. The video has English subtitles in case anyone else is interested.

Japanese
I'm still slowly going through 風が強く吹いている and mining that. I really enjoy it and would likely have watched the entire thing by now if i weren't using it for sentence mining. I also finished Sound! Euphonium, more to get it over with than to find out what happens. To fill its place, i've started watching 灰羽連盟 (Haibane Renmei). It's ok, i've only watched three episodes so maybe it picks up. The biggest obstacle to me enjoying these shows is probably my low comprehension and i'm not really a huge anime fan to begin with.

As for reading, i'm about halfway through chapter 14 of Harry Potter. Generally the dialogs are pretty straightforward and from context and having read the book before i can follow along. The descriptions go back and forth between simple and painful, but overall i enjoy reading. I'm still reading about an hour a day, more than that just gets me too tired.

I've also started putting some grammar work in watching the N3 videos from 日本語の森 on Youtube and filling in some gaps in the N4 section of bunpro. It feels like a lot of these grammar points they teach you make sense in the classroom but as soon as you get away from the textbook they make no sense at all. For example, in reading i constantly run across ていた forms where i would've expected the simple たform. I'm hoping just immersing will eventually give me a feel for how they're used, but it's hard to pick things up when there are so many new words and grammar points in each sentence (i.e. comprehension is so low). Just keep pushing forward, i guess. Como el Señor Vitalis diría, siempre adelante.

[crush]

Basque
I finished 33 ezkil and started reading a Spanish book (La oscura historia de la prima Montse). It's a bit heavier and harder to get through than what i've been reading which is kinda surprising as generally reading in Spanish is pretty relaxing and doesn't feel like work. I'm only a couple chapters in though and enjoying the story so far.

Japanese
This week i watched another series called 灰羽連盟. It had an interesting plot but not much action, i think i would've enjoyed it more later on in my studies when i can follow it more. Today i started 最終兵器彼女 in the hopes that it'd be more action packed and less reliant on the dialog to enjoy the story.

I also finished Chapter 15 and started Chapter 16 of Harry Potter. Chapter 16's pretty long, but i think the book's only 18 chapters so it's looking like i'll be finishing my first Japanese book in the next couple weeks.

Ah, i almost forgot, today marks my one year anniversary of studying Japanese (i started last August). It's felt like a lot of work for not much gain, but hopefully this next year is where it really gets interesting and the language starts to open up.

[crush]

Basque
I haven't been doing any study beyond Anki, but i've still got new words mined from 33 ezkil. I've got 45 new words/sentences to cover until i'm out, at which point i may have to push through the Spanish book so i can start mining a new Basque book.

I also found out about an anarchist Basque author named Asel Luzarraga who's written quite a few books that sound interesting. I've ordered several of them and a looking forward to those (and having more books to take with me if/when i have to leave the Basque Country next month).

Spanish
I'm still slowly reading through La oscura historia de la prima Montse. It was a bit tough at first but now that i'm about a third of the way through i'm really enjoying it. It's competing for time with Japanese and as i was nearing the end of Harry Potter it got pushed aside the past couple days. But that leads me to the next big update...

Japanese
So the big news: I finished my first complete book in Japanese this week! The key was actually figuring out that Yomichan can be set up/installed on Android, before i was reading on my computer and highlighting words with the mouse, with Yomichan on Android i can just tap the word with my finger and it's basically like reading in Pleco for Mandarin. This made reading much easier and let me take my reading on the go. It also meant that i spent less time reading in Spanish as i was racing to finish the book.

I just checked my log and it seems i posted about starting to read Harry Potter on May 9th, so it took me a good 3 months to get through. Nothing to be proud of, i suppose, but hopefully it'll be faster now that i can read on my phone and (i'm hoping) my Japanese has gotten better. I know the later entries in the series get longer and longer, the last few books are 2-3 times longer than the first book, so hopefully my reading speed can improve by then so it doesn't take me 9 months to finish a book!

Anyway, i've grabbed the second Harry Potter book "ハリー・ポッターと秘密の部屋" and have started reading that.

I finished 最終兵器彼女. It sounded like an action-packed anime but it ended up being more of a love story. It was ok, just not what i was expecting. It had its ups and downs, but in the end i was glad to be done with it. I have a feeling that when i get to the 80% comprehension range these shows will be much more interesting.

Now i've started 進撃の巨人 (Attack on Titan) and while my comprehension is far lower than what i've been watching lately it's been a while since i've watched an anime where i check the time thinking a few minutes have passed and the show's almost done and i want to watch the next episode when that's done. Generally i hate those cheap cliffhangers they throw in to get you addicted to a show, especially in dramas, but for language learning/immersion i can appreciate it as it helps motivate me to get more immersion time in, heh.

[golyplot]

IMO, Attack on Titan started off cool, but after a while, it felt like nothing actually mattered because everyone was constantly dying anyway, especially in season 2. There's only so many times you can kill off the majority of the cast.

[crush]

IMO, Attack on Titan started off cool, but after a while, it felt like nothing actually mattered because everyone was constantly dying anyway, especially in season 2. There's only so many times you can kill off the majority of the cast.

I haven't quite gotten that far yet (where all the main characters start dying) though there definitely have been a lot of deaths. Now that i've watched about half of the first season it's definitely starting to get less captivating, but time still goes by more quickly than with the other slice-of-life shows i've been watching lately. I may try mixing in another show in between seasons or something to keep me from burning out on the show, similar to how i've been going through ドクターX.

I'm struggling now to find shows that i can somewhat understand but that also interest me. Lately i've just been reading more than watching anime/shows.

[golyplot]

I don't know about your preferences, but here are some anime on Netflix that I've liked.

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online (better than the original Sword Art Online, IMO)
Cardcaptor Sakura
BNA: Brand New Animal

That being said, I still can't understand much of anything when it comes to Japanese, so I can't vouch for how easy or hard they are to understand. I have found reading the episode summaries and English subtitle files before watching each episode to be helpful. It's a lot easier to recognize bits when you already know what they're saying.

Edit: But you're following my log, so you probably already know all that.

[eido]

I've watched a decent amount of anime in my time. I can recommend a few that have particularly stuck in my memory. I don't know if they'll suit for you, so please let me know. There are thousands of anime out there. I could try to find you something. Also, have you tried Crunchyroll for a wider selection?

My favorite anime is Black Butler/Kuroshitsuji (黒執事). It's about a young English earl with a demon for a butler. The boy sells his soul to find out who killed his parents and take revenge on those who did, and once he finds out the culprits, the demon gets a luxurious feast--only if he completes the contract. But our butler is a tricky one... I believe it's still available on Netflix. It has a lot of dark humor. The manga is also pretty good though it's gone off track a bit in places (such as having a full-scale boy band in a boarding school in the 1800s!) but it's just weird enough with a good amount of intrigue, I think, to appeal to a wide range of audiences. The second season is a bit (too) weird, if you ask me. But there are plenty of people who like it, too. It just depends on your taste.

One of the first anime I watched, The President is a Maid!/Kaichou wa Maid-sama! (会長はメイド様!) is available on Netflix, too. It's about a student council president that has a part-time job as a maid in a maid cafe (as the title suggests), to help make ends meet. The catch is no one knows this about her and she'd rather the secret not get out because she has a tough, feminist image to maintain. Only, someone might just throw that all out the window...

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya/Suzumiya Haruhi no Yūutsu (涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱) is a classic that a lot of anime (and manga/light novel [as it comes in those forms as well]) fans know. It's about a girl that has god-like powers, and a gaggle of misfits (a time traveler, an esper, an alien, and one normal dude) has assembled around her in order to protect the fabric of the universe, because if she finds out she's a god, there could--or actually would--be adverse consequences. Only she's probably the most demanding person in her own universe, so when she wants something, she gets it...

Another favorite of mine from my teenage years is Hetalia (ヘタリア). In manga form, it's a four-panel comic where countries take on human form and act out history as though they were living (keep in mind though, from a Japanese perspective). As anime, the strip turns into 5-minute long episodes with the occasional hour-long movie. Characters include Japan, Germany, Italy (the infamous Axis), the Nordic Five, and micronations like Sealand or Wy. The English dub has been noted for great localization of stereotypes since this manga is supposed to poke fun at national differences and celebrate them at times, but the Japanese dub is just as great. If you didn't know your country's name before this, you will after having watched it.

Let me know if you'd like me to find you some others! Sorry if you've mentioned it in your log before, but how long have you been watching anime/reading manga? What are you looking for in a series?

[crush]

I don't know about your preferences, but here are some anime on Netflix that I've liked.

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online (better than the original Sword Art Online, IMO)
Cardcaptor Sakura
BNA: Brand New Animal

Sword Art Online and BNA are both shows i'd like to watch at some point, but i'm not sure the fantasy setting is the best for a beginner language learner. It's tough because i'm a big science fiction/fantasy fan but those are (supposedly) harder. Another issue is that the shows i'm actually interested in i'm kinda saving for later when i can properly enjoy them. I watched the first 20-something episodes of Cardcaptor Sakura and got a little tired of the repeating plotline. I may come back to it as it was relatively easy for me to understand.

I've watched a decent amount of anime in my time. I can recommend a few that have particularly stuck in my memory. I don't know if they'll suit for you, so please let me know. There are thousands of anime out there. I could try to find you something.
[...]
Let me know if you'd like me to find you some others! Sorry if you've mentioned it in your log before, but how long have you been watching anime/reading manga? What are you looking for in a series?

First off, thanks for the suggestions. Black Butler seems like something i might be able to understand but is probably more on the difficult side. The anime about the maid cafe seems more along what i can follow, but not sure that it's something i'd enjoy. It may have just enough "seriousness" in it for me to enjoy it, though. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya one sounds like something that would be interesting but again probably out of my comfort range. Hetalia also might be interesting, i'm not sure, i'll see if i can find it and watch an episode or two to see.

I started watching anime at the same time i started learning Japanese (since last August). I haven't read much manga, i tried but it didn't do much for me, so i've been reading translated books i'm familiar with for now.

To maybe give you an idea of what sort of stuff i like, here are some of the shows i've enjoyed:
1. Death Note (first anime i watched, i had to read plot summaries of each episode though as i understood nothing)
2. Hanasaku Iroha
3. Welcome to the Ballroom (sorta, i enjoyed the main character's enthusiasm for a sport that is somewhat unconventional for boys)
4. Your Lie in April (may have enjoyed the music more though )
5. Shirokuma Cafe (i didn't expect to like this one)
6. Bunny Drop (this one was great)
7. After the Rain
8. Erased
9. Run with the Wind (still watching this one)
10. I also really enjoyed the movie A Silent Voice

I've been watching mostly slice of life stuff and tend to enjoy things on the more serious or even darker side. There are a few other anime that i'm interested in but i'm holding off until later so i can enjoy them. Most of them are more sci-fi related like Cowboy Bebop. I'd love to hear any other suggestions you've got, thanks for taking the time to write that all up!

[golyplot]

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya/Suzumiya Haruhi no Yūutsu (涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱) is a classic that a lot of anime (and manga/light novel [as it comes in those forms as well]) fans know. It's about a girl that has god-like powers, and a gaggle of misfits (a time traveler, an esper, an alien, and one normal dude) has assembled around her in order to protect the fabric of the universe, because if she finds out she's a god, there could--or actually would--be adverse consequences. Only she's probably the most demanding person in her own universe, so when she wants something, she gets it...

I watched several episodes of Haruhi back in the 2000's when it was big (Eng subbed of course), but I didn't like it much. For the most part, my dislike was over subjective things that are difficult to put into words, but one explicit criticism I had is that Mikuru never does anything besides get abused by Haruhi, and watching Haruhi abuse people all the time gets old fast.

After I said that online, fans told me to watch Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody, since it's apparently one of the few episodes where Mikuru actually does anything... and she promptly gets knocked out at the beginning so Kyon can hang out with Yuki instead. Admittedly, Yuki was my favorite character so it wasn't all bad, but that's still not saying much.

Sword Art Online and BNA are both shows i'd like to watch at some point, but i'm not sure the fantasy setting is the best for a beginner language learner. It's tough because i'm a big science fiction/fantasy fan but those are (supposedly) harder. Another issue is that the shows i'm actually interested in i'm kinda saving for later when i can properly enjoy them. I watched the first 20-something episodes of Cardcaptor Sakura and got a little tired of the repeating plotline. I may come back to it as it was relatively easy for me to understand.

So first off, I disagree on the whole fantasy shows being harder to understand thing. At worst they might use some different vocab. That being said, the shows I mentioned aren't all that fantastical to begin with. SAO Alt is centered around virtual gun battles, so there's a lot of gun related terminology, but that's it. And BNA is basically just set in the modern world except some people can turn into animals and have superpowers. It's not like a fantasy fantasy series where everyone is going on about halberds and reeves and crofters or whatnot (or whatever the Japanese equivalents are).

I definitely identify with the "putting off shows you're interested in" thing as well. I've deliberately avoiding watching Aggretsuko for example for similar reasons.